About Confidentiality

To make informed choices, all parties should be aware of confidentiality and privacy
issues, as well as institutional mandatory reporting requirements.

Confidential Reporting

If reporting students wish that details of an incident be kept confidential, they
should speak with campus mental health counselors and/or health service providers.
Campus counselors are available to help on an emergency basis. Their service is free
of charge. Members of the clergy, chaplains, and off-campus rape crisis center staff
and/or members of the campus clergy can maintain confidentiality. Local resources
such as crisis centers are also confidential and have no duty to report your information
to Wooster.

Mandated Reporting

All Wooster employees who are not designated above as confidential, are mandated reporters
for all the details of which they are aware of an incident. They share this information
with the Title IX Coordinator. Giving a mandated reporter notice of an incident constitutes
official notice to the College. Incidents of sexual misconduct will be taken seriously
when official notice is given to the College. Such incidents of sexual misconduct
will be investigated and resolved in a prompt and equitable manner under Wooster’s
resolution procedures, which are discussed in a later section. You may request privacy
and/or that the Title IX Coordinator provide you with remedies and resources without
initiating a formal resolution process. The Coordinator will weigh requests for privacy
against the institutional need to address and remedy discrimination under Title IX.
Generally, Wooster will be able to respect your wishes, unless it believes there is
a threat to the community based on the use of weapons, violence, pattern, predation,
or threatening conduct by the person being accused.

In cases where your request for confidentiality is granted, Wooster will offer you
available resources, supports, and remedies. You are not obligated to pursue formal
resolution in order to access the resources that are available. If Wooster decides
that it is obligated to pursue a formal resolution based on the notice you have given,
you are not obligated to participate in the resolution process. However, the ability
of Wooster to enforce its policies or provide some remedies may be limited as a result
of your decision not to participate.

The state of Ohio requires that most College employees with knowledge of a felony
having been committed are required to report it to law enforcement. Therefore, all
reports that may constitute a felony will be reported to local law enforcement. These
reports may be made without including the complainant’s identifying information.
Additionally, the College must statistically report the occurrence on campus of any
of seven major violent crimes, including certain sex offenses and hate crimes, in
an annual report of campus crime statistics. This statistical report does not include
personally identifiable information.

Incidents Involving Minors

Please be aware that institutional duties with respect to minors (those under the
age of 18) may require reporting sexual misconduct incidents to state agencies and/or
local law enforcement. As a result, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in sexual
misconduct incidents involving minors.

Parental Notification

College officials will not inform a parent or guardian of a report or investigation
of sexual misconduct except in specific circumstances. The College's primary relationship
is to the student and not to their parent/guardian. In the event of major medical
concerns, conduct action, or academic jeopardy, students are strongly encouraged to
inform their parents. College officials may directly inform parents when requested
to do so by a student, in a life-threatening situation, or in the case that the student
is a minor (under the age of 18).